Riders (Riders, #1)(75)

Cordero stares at me in the semidarkness as he steps inside and removes the old bulb, replacing it with the new one. The lamp goes on and she’s still staring at me.

He is still staring.

It.

Malaphar.

Now that I know, I can’t see how I missed it before. The concentration in those black eyes isn’t human. The way Malaphar has scratched and rubbed at his hands and knuckles. I had thought it was a habit but it’s not. It’s the tick of a demon, taking on the shape of a body that’s just a little too small. And his death reek. He made a good attempt at masking it with perfume. Now it’s so strong. It’s blatant.

I don’t know how to think of him. It’s Malaphar, but I still see a woman in front of me. It’s him, but it’s her.

Cordero. I need to think of him as Cordero.

No change, Blake. Or he’ll know.

“You were giving me such an immersive first-person perspective,” Cordero says once Beretta’s back in his post by the door. “Now you’re summarizing. Getting antsy to finish this up?”

Behind me the radiator’s clanging away. It needs to stop. My face is burning. This entire room feels too warm.

“I didn’t realize I was doing that,” I say.

“No. I guess you didn’t. Which reminds me.” Cordero checks her watch. “It’s time for another dose.”

“I told you I don’t need it.” I can’t go back into the fog. Not now. “I’m cooperating, aren’t I?”

Cordero’s smile is thin, no teeth. “Yes, but things are going so well as they are. No need to change our modus operandi, is there?”

There is every reason to change our modus operandi, but none that I can verbalize. I still can’t summon my sword or armor but I’m close.

I need an hour. Maybe less.

I need time.

I need to figure out why he’s here.

Why is Malaphar back?

Same reason Daryn’s here. It has to be.

They missed something.

What did they miss?

I need time to think.

And I need to recruit help.

“Don’t you trust me, Cordero? I’ve been nothing but honest with you. I’ve been sitting here, tied up, telling you everything for the past few hours. Don’t I deserve a little credit?” I look right at Texas. “Am I off base here? Because I feel like I deserve a gold medal for being such a good detainee.”

His reaction to the code word is no reaction. Same with Beretta.

Nothing.

Not a blink, twitch, or hitch in their breath.

Are they that good? That cool under pressure? Or did they miss it? Or are they confused because it’s not a perfect message? I’m not trying to tell them to keep quiet. I’m trying to tell them that a demon’s sitting right in front of them.

“You are being very cooperative, Gideon, but you still need the dose. Don’t take it personally. It’s simply a safety measure.”

Cordero looks to Beretta but Texas is the one to step forward. “We each had one dose,” he says. He kneels in front of me, snapping on the latex gloves. Behind him, Beretta points the pistol at me.

Texas looks up. On his face is an expression I can’t figure out, but that maybe is apology for what he’s about to do. So much for gold freakin’ medals. Shit.

He takes the hypodermic needle from a small black pouch, along with a square of cotton, then he pulls up my sleeve and presses the needle to my skin. I feel cool moisture as he depresses the plunger. The dose meant to go in my veins is absorbed into the cotton square.

Not into me.

Texas turns casually as he stands, making sure Cordero sees the spent syringe.

I have to drop my head because I know the relief’s showing on my face. Yes. I have a man on my side. He knows something’s wrong and Beretta must, too.

It’s a start.

Now I just need time. A chance to think. To let the last of the drugs burn off.

Cordero asks me to pick up where I left off. “You were on your way to Norway,” she says. “To Jotunheimen, I’m guessing. I think that’s where all those trains eventually brought you. Am I right?”

I take a second to tap into the feeling I had last time when I actually got the dose. Like I had clouds inside my head. I think of Sebastian and how he can make even breathing mean something. Convey something.

I need to sell this for it to work. I need to come across as the same old gut-spilling Gideon. Bad way to put it. The same uncensored Gideon.

Act blunt on the outside. Get sharper on the inside.

I can do this.





CHAPTER 46

Norway was Jode’s idea. We needed a safe, remote place where the four of us could work on mastering our weapons while Daryn waited for her next directive. Jode assured us Norway fit the bill.

After almost three days on trains, we arrived at the Oslo station around midday. Jode left with Daryn to go work some Ellis money magic at various travel agencies inside the station. An hour later, they came back with keys to a Mercedes van and a hold on a cabin in Jotunheimen National Park.

The former was purchased outright, in euros. The latter was free—part of a system of huts the Norwegian government provided for the pure enjoyment of the great outdoors.

This seemed a little too easy to me. It felt like were winging some pretty important stuff, but Jode knew more about Norway than I did, meaning he knew something about it. I had no choice but to roll with it.